Haiti Gangs Recruiting, Arming More Children

Gangs in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince are rounding up homeless and at-risk teens, who are increasingly being used as foot soldiers in gang wars that have forced schools to…

Indigenous Communities in Rural Mexico Get No Help Against Constant Criminal Threats

The death of two indigenous leaders in Guerrero, Mexico, has again drawn attention to the government’s negligent protection of indigenous communities targeted by criminal groups throughout Mexico. In a…

The Truth Comes Out

At the start of 2010, the former Colombian paramilitary leader Hernán Giraldo Serna was completing his sentence for drug trafficking in a US prison.

A Criminal Empire that Abused Girls and Women

It was 7:00 at night. Carolina was lying in bed and turned on the TV just as a news reporter announced: “One of the most bloodthirsty paramilitary leaders of the…

Journalist Attacks, Killings Spark Outrage in Mexico

A number of media workers in Mexico have been shot and killed, stabbed to death and ambushed in armed attacks to start 2022, as authorities continue to point the finger…

With US Policy, Mexico Crime Groups See Double the Opportunity in Northbound Migrants

Reported kidnappings have decreased significantly in Mexico, but in recent years, at least one out of every 10 kidnapping victims has been a migrant trying to reach the United States,…

Illegal Cigarettes Produced with Slave Labor in Brazil

Counterfeit cigarettes may appear harmless, but the illicit tobacco trade often spurs other criminal activities – with the latest case being the use of slave labor by a ring that…

Extermination Sites - The New Depths of Mexico's Disappearance Crisis

Families combing for clues about their vanished loved ones at recently discovered extermination sites in northern Mexico have turned to local cartel leaders for help - revealing their desperation to…

Migrants Disappearing, Dying as US-Mexico Border Remains Closed

Reports of migrants dying and disappearing in the US-Mexico borderlands are becoming increasingly common, propelled in part by a restrictive border policy pushing people to cross through more remote and…

Self-Defense Group Emerges After Criminal Attacks in Chiapas, Mexico

Amid government inaction, Indigenous communities in the highlands of Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas are throwing their support behind a self-defense group that formed to fend off attacks by organized…

Human Smugglers Profit From Despair of Haitian Migrants in Brazil

Government officials in Brazil say smugglers are moving Haitian migrants across the country's border with Peru, as many of them take a first step in the perilous journey north toward…

'Somos.': One of Mexico's Worst Massacres Told Through its Victims

The new Netflix series, “Somos.,” (We Are), offers a respectful but powerful look at the Allende massacre, one of the most brutal episodes of Mexico's war on organized crime, which…